Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Does a factory side door come with RV type latches or do have to add/modify one to get that feature instead of the cam lock design?

I've got a trailer on order. My dealer normally orders both locks unless the customer wishes different.

dpjeansonne wrote:Does a factory side door come with RV type latches or do have to add/modify one to get that feature instead of the cam lock design?

Often the RV latch is an option, but it really depends on the manufacturer and also if the trailer is already on the dealers lot, it depends on what the dealer ordered. I've seen cam locks only, RV latches/locks only and others with a cam lock and an RV latch.

When I ordered mine I had them leave the cam lock and add the RV style lock. My though was it would be more secure. I now wished I had skipped the cam lock cause all that has done is get me locked in by one of my friends little boy. He latched the cam lock with me and the wife inside. He thought it was funny. The wife was not amused.

I need to come up with something that will prevent this. For the rest of that trip I tie wrapped the cam to the handle. At least he would have to cut the tie wrap before locking me in ..

I saw someone with a solution. The door lock handle would be folded back against the trailer wall. There was an angle pice bolted to the wall that permitted locking the handle in the open position with the padlock that would be used to lock shut the door. Sorry no pictures.

Dirtclod, Howdy;

Talk to the folks you bought it from and they can order you a
new in the box cam-lock latch and you can mount it on the side
yourself. That way it will at least look like it came from the factory that way...

hank

Hankeye,

I had seen that before on a trailer but the way that the handle is bent it wont lay flat if opened 180 degrees so it wouldnt work in a standard latch. I thought about drilling a hole in the handle and locking it around the bar but I havent found a lock that has a radius big enough to do this.

dpjeansonne .. sorry about the thread hijack but something to think about if leaving the cam lock on but definitley get a RV latch installed from the factory if you can. I heard they were not that easy to install on your own so I didnt want to tackle it and had my trailer built with it.

I just lock the cam/bar lock without the bar in it when I'm sleeping in the trailer. That way you cant get locked inside and it requires no modifications...

Cornfused,

I have done that too but you can still put that bar in behind the lock on top of the latch and im still just as locked in.

Dirtclod wrote:Hankeye,

I had seen that before on a trailer but the way that the handle is bent it wont lay flat if opened 180 degrees so it wouldnt work in a standard latch. I thought about drilling a hole in the handle and locking it around the bar but I havent found a lock that has a radius big enough to do this.

dpjeansonne .. sorry about the thread hijack but something to think about if leaving the cam lock on but definitley get a RV latch installed from the factory if you can. I heard they were not that easy to install on your own so I didnt want to tackle it and had my trailer built with it.

I just did this install over the weekend and while it was not too bad, it took more adaptation that I was hoping for. With a friends help (he had installed one on his own trailer a while back) it took us about 2 hours. Tools used were a drill, jigsaw (metal/wood blade), air saw (fine tooth metal blade), and a dremel with cutoff wheels and some various grinder bits for trimming the metal and digging out the wood for the lock. Used an old piece of 1/4 ply that put in the required space on the back side.

Dirtclod, Howdy;

Drill your hole in the handle and use one of these.
http://www.etrailer.com/Locks/Master-Lo ... Mgodww8AWw

hank

Here's what I did, and others have done too. Just drill the hole, insert the eye bolt, secure nut on the inside, and lock it open! I drilled the hole through a stud for security and strength. When its time to leave it, close the cam lock, and use the same pad lock to lock it closed. Easy.

Gonefishin

YOU ARE A GENIOUS !!!!!

I will defintely copy that idea for sure.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

The trailer supplier can provide a flush lock as an option on a trailer order with some I have been looking at. The ideas that were presented here to secure the cam lock are useful and I will look at the padlock solution in my case.

Thanks for the inputs.

Any lock that can be locked from the outside and can NOT be unlocked from the inside scares me. I have locks and hasps on the garage and while I can crawl out of a window if I was in a hurry and some joker decided to just close the door and flip the hasp over...